Sajida is an Expat living in Berlin (Germany).
She works as a Scientist in Preclinics GmbH in Potsdam.
She started my program “From Zero to C1 in 25 Minutes a Day” at A1.
She needed to learn German for her citizen application.
“I want to give B1 exam arranged by VHS Berlin for my citizenship application”
She felt some time pressure and was unsure if she could pass the exam just learning till A2.
“I started with your free 10 min vocabulary juggling podcast and immediately got myself registered for the A1 when you offered that. Now I have a problem. I want to give B1 exam arranged by VHS Berlin for my citizenship application. I have my B1 exam on the 2nd week of November meaning I have almost 7 weeks to prepare. Do you think If I take A2 with A1 of your course I would be prepared to give this exam in a bit better way?”
I told her that yes, that I had many students who just went through my A1 and A2 modules and had passed their B1 exam pretty well.
7 weeks later she gave it a try and passed her official B1 TELC exam with an incredible 100% score in Speaking.
After the great news of having passed her B1 exam, her lawyer announced her also some “bad” news:
“I have just received from my lawyer that a B1 level is not enough for naturalization.”
She needed to pass B2 and was again under time pressure and unsure if she could pass the exam just learning till B1.
“I have just received from my lawyer that a B1 level is not enough for naturalization, but B2 is required. Now I have booked the B2 TELC exam date for February 13th, 2021. The time is very tight. I have a question for you. Would the B1 course be sufficient to prepare for the B2 exam?”
I again told her that yes, that I had many students who just learned till my B1 module and had passed their B2 exam pretty well.
And 13 weeks later she gave it a try and passed her official B2 Telc exam, again with an incredible 100% score in Speaking.
Here’s an interview I did with her so you can learn from her journey going through my program.
Let’s jump right into it.
Sajida,
What did you try before starting with my program “From Zero to C1”?
I just did a short A1 course in Pakistan before coming to Germany and also didn’t complete that one. After coming to Germany I just learned a little bit by talking to people. The real challenge I faced was when I started my job after completing my Ph.D. where I had a setback of not knowing German which resulted in lack of communication or even sometimes mis-communication. When I searched for German learning, I don’t know but somehow I came across these 5 min free Podcasts from Herr Professor. So I just used to listen to these while commuting between work and home. That somehow improved my confidence in speaking German.
What was your biggest challenge you faced with learning German?
Lack of time was the main issue. I just had 7 weeks to prepare for my B1 exam and later 8 weeks for the B2 exam, and this all I had to do with full-time work and family life. I must appreciate the audio files of this program and the vocabulary packages which I used whenever I find a little bit of time at work, while commuting and at home (weekends).
What kind of program were you looking for?
To be honest I didn’t know that I could learn effectively online. I was just listening to the free podcasts and then I received an email for this Program from Herr Professor. It was right at the time as I had to prepare for the B1 and then later B2 exam. Although in the beginning I just took A1 Module. Later on I took A2 too and that helped me a lot to pass B1.
What was your goal when you started?
To learn German, to be confident in speaking and to pass the B1 exam.
What struck you the most the first time you came across my program?
The time flexibility and well organized sentence structures you used to go through in your podcasts. and then in each module there was repetition of the same concept e.g the podcasts with your students, quick recap, vocabulary overview and then memrise packages. So if one really goes through all of the steps, the concepts were really perfectly acquired by the brain.
What was the big difference between my program and the way you learned German before?
As I told you before I actually didn’t have a complete formal course before but what I could tell is that this program is really well structured and focussed and takes the learner step by step to each and every level.
What are some of the results you’ve achieved so far going through my program?
I can now communicate much better at work which was one of the problems which I wanted to solve. This communication does not just include verbal communication but also written ones. I write now my emails in German to communicate with different ’’ Behörde’’ here in Germany.
Above all I passed my B1 and B2 exams and that too in 5 months in total which was actually unbelievable for me to achieve.
How did you prepare for your B2 exam?
I took the B1 module, went through the modules with as much detail as possible and in parallel used one of the learning techniques which you recommend in 25min a day exercise. I also had some online sessions with you and at the end I practiced some model tests from a B2 telc book.
How long did it take to prepare for your B2 exam?
It took me 8 weeks, actually I just had these 8 weeks to prepare as my citizenship application was submitted and I had to pass the exam as soon as possible.
What was the most difficult part of the exam?
In B2 I found the reading part a bit difficult. The vocabulary was quite difficult and the choices seemed to be overlapping and confusing.
Which specific resources helped you the most along the way?
Going through the modules as they were structured. I didn’t jump to the other until I was done with the first one. Using the recommended “traditional exercises” also helped a great deal in achieving my goal.
How did you stay focused and motivated through the program?
To be honest I had no other choice other than to keep my focus because of the 8 weeks deadline. Had I not had this exam deadline, maybe I would have taken longer to learn German actually.
How did you manage to combine a full-time job and learning German on the side?
I used to utilize smaller timeslots in between my experiments in Lab for example, while I was cooking in the Kitchen, commuting from and to the work. I used to spend some extra time on weekends to cover up the time during the weekdays.
What did a typical daily learning routine look like?
I just started my day as I used to enter into the train by turning the Audio lesson on. In the evening, I used to do the vocabulary package of the same level I learned in the Morning. In parallel I followed the recommended “traditional exercises” which also supported a lot in learning German.
How much time did you spend daily on average for your learning?
1 to 2 hrs on weekdays. 3hours on weekends almost.
What did you emphasize the most when learning?
Going through the concepts one by one. Taking sentence structures together with Vocabulary and practicing it while communicating with Colleagues.
What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it?
Time was the biggest obstacle for me and I overcame it by keeping the focus on the goal i.e. to pass the exam.
What was the most important thing that helped you become more fluent in speaking?
Listening was the most important thing. As I was going through the course, I used to pay close attention to the TV shows and Cartoon films I used to see on TV. I would recommend watching Kids Cartoons as they speak quite clearly and in my case helped me a lot in being fluent in speaking.
What helped you the most to overcome the fear of speaking to others?
I understood that I don’t have to speak perfectly in order to communicate in German with others. The key is to just start speaking without trying to be perfect and the mind will automatically switch to speaking fluently with the passage of time as we learn new concepts.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to learn German but finds it hard to find the time due to his/her busy life?
Just start it from a little step. I think just getting into the process though for a shorter time in the beginning sets up one’s routine. In addition, remaining consistent and setting up goals would definitely speed up the process of learning.
“From Zero To C1 in 25 Minutes a Day” is my All-Inclusive, complete, step-by-step, no fuss, hassle free 75 Lessons online program (yes, only 15 lessons for each Module A1/A2/B1/B2/C1) for Busy Professionals like you, so you can go from scratch to become fluent and confident to join meetings with your colleagues, negotiate with your clients and give presentations in front of your bosses IN GERMAN. Even if you have a busy working schedule.
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